Turkish prosecutors have over the past week ordered the detention of 149 people on terrorism charges due to their alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, local media reported.
On Monday the İstanbul and Kars public prosecutors issued detention warrants for 51 suspects, including active duty officers, noncommissioned officers and former military cadets.
On Tuesday prosecutors in Ankara issued detention warrants for 37, including officers and former military cadets, on accusations of secretly communicating with their contacts within the Gülen movement via payphones.
An additional 32 detention warrants were issued in Kayseri, Samsun, Edirne, Bursa and Manisa provinces on Wednesday.
On Friday detention warrants were issued for 29 individuals by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and 24 were detained for alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since the corruption investigations of December 17-25, 2013, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch that he accused Gülen of masterminding.
